Framework for providing visual context to WWW hyperlinks

ABSTRACT

A method and a system for presenting Internet information to a user including providing to a user a visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink, and at least partially concurrently providing a visual image of another web page of at least one web site which is represented by the at least one hyperlink.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/708,191 filed on Nov.8, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,904. The nonprovisional applicationnamely application Ser. No. 09/708,191 filed Nov. 8, 2000, claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/169,328 filed Dec. 6,1999 and incorporates the same by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to Internet methodologies and systemsgenerally and more particularly to systems and methodologies fordisplaying information received over the Internet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following U.S. patents are believed to represent the current stateof the art: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,101,510; 6,016,494; 6,011,537; 5,973,692.

The following disclosures are also believed to be relevant to thesubject matter of the present invention:

R. J. Yarger, G. Reese, and T. King “MySQL & mSQL,” O'REILLY &Associates Inc, 1999, ISBN 1-56592-434-7;

B. Laurie, and P. Laurie “Apache the Definitive Guide, 2nd edition,”O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1999, ISBN 1-56592-528-9;

C. Musciano, and B. Kennedy “HTML the Definitive Guide, 3rd edition,”O'REILLY & Associates Inc, 1998, ISBN 1-56592-492-4;

Libwww http://www.w3.org/Library;

T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, and L. Masinter “Uniform ResourceIdentifiers (URI): Generic Syntax”, RFC 2396, August 1998.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide a particularly beneficialmethodology and system for displaying information received over theInternet.

There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention a method for presenting Internet information to auser. The method includes providing to a user a visual image of a webpage containing at least one hyperlink, and at least partiallyconcurrently providing a visual image of another web page of at leastone web site which is represented by said at least one hyperlink.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of said another web page is displayedalongside the visual image of said web page.

Preferably the visual image of another web page appears hovering oversaid hyperlink.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of said another web page is displayed withinthe visual image of said web page. The visual image of another web pageappears hovering over said hyperlink.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual images of a plurality of other web pagesrepresented by at least one hyperlink are displayed simultaneously alongwith said visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the web page comprises an HTML page.

Moreover in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the method also includes providing a visual image of anotherweb page includes employing a web browser including visualizationfunctionality which interfaces via the Internet with an image server.

Preferably the visualization functionality is operative to download viathe image server from an image database images of web pages which arereferenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page and to provide to auser, via the web browser, an annotated web page.

Additionally or alternatively the annotated web page includes the webpage having alongside it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the method includes providing a visual image of another webpage and includes employing a web browser which interfaces via theInternet with a web server including visualization functionality.

Preferably the visualization functionality operates to embed commands tothe web browser to download, via an image server, images of web pageswhich are referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page and toprovide to a user, via the web browser, an annotated web page.

Additionally the annotated web page may include the web page havingwithin it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visualization functionality includes generation of a listof hyperlinks from a web page, elimination of links which refer back toa web server sending said web page, determination of whether redirectionlinks are present and if so, visualizing an ultimate destination thereofand visualizing remaining hyperlinks.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visualization functionality may also include receiving alist of hyperlinks, splitting a URL of each hyperlink into URLcomponents including at least a path component and a host component,trimming a path component based on the consideration of finding the mostrepresentative image of a given web page and constructing a new URLincluding a trimmed path component.

There is also thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a method for generating a web page image database.The method includes receiving a list of URLs corresponding to web pages,the images of which it is desired to download into an image database,operating a multiplicity of downloaders simultaneously by supplying toeach downloader one URL at a time, causing each downloader to retrievefrom the Internet, a web page and embedded objects corresponding to theURL supplied to it, causing a thumbnail generator to render the web pageand causing said thumbnail generator to shrink said rendered image ofthe web page and supply it to the downloader.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method also includes deleting executable content from theweb page.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method includes causing each downloader to retrieve fromthe Internet, a web page and embedded objects corresponding to the URLsupplied to it and causing a thumbnail generator to operate acorresponding web browser to render the web page employ a locally storedcopy of said web page and said embedded objects.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the method includes employing a web server for providing saidlocally stored copy of said web page and of said embedded objects tosaid web browser.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of another web page appears hovering oversaid hyperlink.

There is further provided in accordance with another preferredembodiment of the present invention a system for presenting Internetinformation to a user including a first functionality providing to auser a visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink anda second functionality operative at least partially concurrently withsaid first functionality for providing a visual image of another webpage of at least one web site which is represented by said at least onehyperlink.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of said another web page is displayedalongside the visual image of said web page.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of said another web page is displayed withinthe visual image of said web page.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual images of a plurality of other web pagesrepresented by at least one hyperlink are displayed simultaneously alongwith said visual image of a web page containing at least one hyperlink.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the web page comprises an HTML page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the second functionality comprises third functionalityemploying a web browser including visualization functionality whichinterfaces via the Internet with an image server.

Preferably the visualization functionality is operative to download viathe image server from an image database images of web pages which arereferenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page and to provide to auser, via the web browser, an annotated web page. Additionally oralternatively the annotated web page includes the web page havingalongside it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the second functionality comprises fourth functionalityemploying a web browser which interfaces via the Internet with a webserver including visualization functionality.

Preferably the visualization functionality is operative to embedcommands to the web browser to download, via an image server, images ofweb pages which are referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web pageand to provide to a user, via the web browser, an annotated web page.Additionally or alternatively the annotated web page includes the webpage having within it images of homepages linked with the web page.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visualization functionality includes the generation of alist of hyperlinks from a web page, the elimination of links which referback to a web server sending said web page, the determination of whetherredirection links are present and if so, visualizing an ultimatedestination thereof and the visualizing remaining hyperlinks.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visualization functionality includes receiving a list ofhyperlinks, splitting a URL of each hyperlink into URL componentsincluding at least a path component and a host component, trimming apath component based on the consideration of finding the mostrepresentative image of a given web page and constructing a new URLincluding a trimmed path component.

Furthermore in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of another web page appears hovering oversaid hyperlink.

Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of another web page appears hovering oversaid hyperlink.

Additionally or alternatively the visual image of another web pageappears hovering over said hyperlink. Preferably the visual image ofanother web page appears hovering over said hyperlink.

Furthermore the visual image of another web page may appear to hoverover said hyperlink.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the visual image of another web page appears hovering oversaid hyperlink.

There is provided in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment ofthe present invention a system for generating a web page image database,the system includes at least one downloader receiving one URL at a timeand retrieving from the Internet a web page and embedded objectscorresponding to the URL received by it and at least one thumbnailgenerator operative to render the web page, shrink said rendered imageof the web page and supply said rendered image to the downloader.

Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention the at least one downloader is operative to delete executablecontent from the web page.

Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention each downloader retrieves from the Internet, a web page andembedded objects corresponding to the URL received by it and locallystores a copy of said web page and said embedded objects and causes saidthumbnail generator to render the web page by employing said locallystored copy of said web page and said embedded objects.

Preferably the system also includes a web server providing said locallystored copy of said web page and of said embedded objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified partially pictorial, partially block diagramillustration of a system and methodology for displaying informationreceived over the Internet in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a simplified partially pictorial, partially block diagramillustration of a system and methodology for displaying informationreceived over the Internet in accordance with another preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a simplified flow chart of part of visualization functionalityemployed in the system and methodology of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a simplified flow chart of visualization functionalityemployed in accordance with a preferred; embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified flow chart of path component trimmingfunctionality employed in the embodiment of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram illustration of a system forgenerating an image database useful in the system and methodology ofFIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 7 is a flown chart illustrating operation of a controller formingpart of the system of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a downloader formingpart of the system of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a process HTMLalgorithm employed in the downloader of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a thumbnail generatorforming part of the system of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a broker forming partof the system of FIG. 6.

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A is a software listing in hexadecimal form of softwaresuitable for providing the visualization functionality of FIG. 1 wheninstalled in accordance with installation instructions set forthhereinbelow;

Appendix B is a software listing in hexadecimal form of softwaresuitable for providing the functionality of FIG. 6 when installed inaccordance with installation instructions set forth hereinbelow;

Appendix C is a software listing in hexadecimal form of softwaresuitable for providing the functionality of an image server of FIG. 1and FIG. 2 when installed in accordance with installation instructionsset forth hereinbelow.

The foregoing software listing are protected by copyright in the USA andin all other jurisdictions.

Appendix A, Appendix B and Appendix C are included on Copy 1 and Copy 2of the CD-Rs attached herewith to the present application. Each CD-Rincludes the files GIRAFA.hex (Appendix A) of Nov. 7, 2000 and of length3,052,711 bytes; ARANHA.hex (Appendix B) of Nov. 7, 2000 and of length5,498,984 bytes and IMAGE.hex (Appendix C) of Nov. 7, 2000 and of length217,154 bytes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a simplified partiallypictorial, partially block diagram illustration of a system andmethodology for displaying information received over the Internet inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As seenin FIG. 1, a web browser 100, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5,typically resident on a PC, such as a Dell Dimension L733 runningMicrosoft Windows 98, receives a web page 101, such as an HTML page,over the Internet from a web server 102. The web browser 100 preferablyincludes visualization functionality 103 which interfaces, typically viathe Internet, with an image server 104, such as a Dell Power Edge 2450running Apache 1.3.12 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system.

The image server 104 interfaces with an image database 106, which ispreferably a Dell Power Edge 2450 running MySQL 3.23.25 on an OpenBSD2.7 operating system which is preferably loaded by using functionalityof the type described hereinbelow with reference to FIG. 7.

The visualization functionality 103 is operative to download via theimage server 104 from the image database 106 images of web pages whichare referenced in hyperlinks contained in the web page 101 and toprovide to a user, via the web browser 100, an annotated web page 110,which preferably includes the web page 101 having alongside it images112 of homepages linked with web page 101.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a simplified partiallypictorial, partially block diagram illustration of a system andmethodology for displaying information received over the Internet inaccordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention.As seen in FIG. 2, a web browser 200, typically resident on a PC, suchas a Dell Dimension L733 running Microsoft Windows 98, interfaces,typically via the Internet, with a web server 202, such as a Dell PowerEdge 2450 running Apache 1.3.12 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operating system.

The web server 202 interfaces with a dynamic page generator 204, such asa P.H.P. 4.0.2, in which is preferably installed a visualizationfunctionality 206, which is described hereinbelow in greater detail. Thedynamic page generator 204 interfaces with a database 208, such as aDell Power Edge 2450 running MySQL 3.23.25 on an OpenBSD 2.7 operatingsystem.

The web browser 200 preferably interfaces with an image server 210, suchas a Dell Power Edge 2450 running Apache 1.3.12 on an OpenBSD 2.7operating system. The image server 210 interfaces with an image database212, which is preferably a Dell Power Edge 2450 running MySQL 3.23.25 onan OpenBSD 2.7 operating system, which is preferably loaded by usingfunctionality of the type described hereinbelow with reference to FIG.7.

The visualization functionality 206 is operative to embed within adynamically generated web page, such as an HTML page, commands to theweb browser 200 to download via the image server 210 from the imagedatabase 212 images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinkscontained in a web page 213 and to provide to a user, via the webbrowser 200, the web page 213 annotated to include therewithin images216 of homepages linked therewith.

It is appreciated that either or both of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and2 may provide images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinkscontained in a web page either alongside or within that web page. It isalso appreciated that either or both of the embodiments FIGS. 1 and 2may provide images of web pages which are referenced in hyperlinkscontained in a web page, which images hover either over or alongside thehyperlinks. It is appreciated that the visual image of another web pagemay function as a hyperlink.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is a simplified flow chart ofpart of visualization functionality employed in the system andmethodology of FIG. 1. The flow chart of FIG. 3 illustrates generationof a list of hyperlinks from a web page, such as web page 101 in theembodiment of FIG. 1 received from a web server 102.

As each link is extracted from web page 101, an examination is made inorder to eliminate links which refer back to web server 102 and todetermine whether redirection links are present. This is typically doneby searching for the presence of a string “http://” encoded in the URL,which characterizes a redirection link. In the case of links, whichappear to be redirection links, only the ultimate destination is listedIn the case of links which do not appear to be redirection links, thelinks themselves are listed. The resulting list is employed as an inputto the functionality of FIG. 4.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, all of the hyperlinks areprocessed. Alternatively, not all of the hyperlinks need be processed.In such a case, a user may decide which hyperlinks to process.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is a simplified flow chart ofvisualization functionality employed in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention. As seen in FIG. 4, a list ofhyperlinks is received. This list may be derived from a web page such asweb page 101 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 using the functionality of FIG.3 or may be provided by dynamic page generator 204 and obtained viadatabase 208 in the embodiment of FIG. 2.

If hyperlinks are present, the URL of each hyperlink is split into URLcomponents. For example, if the URL of a hyperlink appears as follows:http://www.microsoft.com:80/windows2000/upgrade/compat/search/computers.asp?page=2&send=1&Order=Sort+by+Company&CN=Dell&PN=&PT=

The components thereof include the following:

-   Scheme: http-   Host: www.microsoft.com-   Port: 80-   Path: /windows2000/upgrade/compat/search/computers.asp-   Query: page=2&send=1&Order=Sort+by+Company&CN=Dell&PN=&PT=

The path component may be trimmed based on the consideration of findingthe most representative image of a given web page. A flow chartillustrating a preferred algorithm for making this determination appearsin FIG. 5 and is described hereinbelow.

Thus, in the above example, the trimmed path component appears asfollows:

/windows2000/upgrade

Following any trimming of the path component, a new URL is constructedfrom the scheme, host, port and trimmed path components. This URL isemployed for outputting an http query to an image server, such as imageserver 104 in the embodiment of FIG. 1 or 210 in the embodiment of FIG.2.

A preferred form of http query in the above example appears as follows:

http://wb1.girafa.com/srv/i?

u=http://www.microsoft.com%2fwindows2000%2fupgrade

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a simplified flow chart ofpath component trimming functionality employed in the embodiment of FIG.4. As seen in FIG. 5, the pith component trimming functionalitycomprises receipt of the URL components after splitting thereof asdescribed hereinabove with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.Information from the host component of the URL is employed in trimmingof the path component of the URL. Each path component comprises aplurality of path segments.

If the last path segment in a path component is a file name, this pathsegment is removed. Determination whether a path component is a filename is typically carried out by examining the suffix thereof todetermine whether it is a known suffix representing a file name.

If the first path segment starts with a “˜”, which typically designatesa home directory in a Unix system, the path component is trimmed afterthat first path segment.

If the host is not www.geocities.com, the path component is trimmedafter the second path segment.

If the host is www.geocities.com and any of the first three pathsegments consists of 4 digits, the path component is trimmed after thefirst segment that consists of 4 digits.

If the host is www.geocities.com and none of the first three pathsegments consists of 4 digits, the path component is trimmed after thesecond segment.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a simplified block diagramillustration of a system for generating an image database useful in thesystem and methodology of FIGS. 1 and 2. As seen in FIG. 6, a controller600 receives a list 602 of homepages, the images of which it is desiredto download into an image database 604, such as image database 106 inthe embodiment of FIG. 1 or image database 212 in the embodiment of FIG.2.

The controller 600 operates a multiplicity of downloaders 606simultaneously by supplying to each downloader one URL at a time. Eachdownloader 606 retrieves from the Internet, the homepage and theembedded objects corresponding to the URL supplied to it by thecontroller 600 and deletes therefrom executable block content. Theresulting output of the downloaders 606 is supplied to a web server 608via a database 610.

Each downloader 606 establishes a connection with one of a plurality ofthumbnail generators 612 via a broker 614. Once this connection has beenestablished, a URL of a locally stored copy of a downloaded homepage,which is stored in database 610, is sent to the thumbnail generator 612with which the connection has been established.

Each thumbnail generator 612 operates a corresponding web browser 616 todownload via web server 608 the locally stored copy of the homepage,which is stored in database 610. The thumbnail generators 612 eachreceive a rendered image of the homepage from a corresponding webbrowser 616 and shrink it and supply it to the downloader 606 with whichthe connection has been established.

It is appreciated that normally the number of downloaders exceeds thenumber of thumbnail generators by at least an order of magnitude. Thebroker 614 coordinates interaction between a thumbnail generator and adownloader.

Reference is no made to FIG. 7, which is a flow chart illustratingoperation of a controller forming part of the system of FIG. 6. A listof homepages is received from database 602 (FIG. 6). Each homepage istaken from the list and downloaded by a downloader 606 (FIG. 6). Thefunctionality of FIG. 7 ensures that a predetermined number ofdownloaders operate simultaneously, so long as the list of undownloadedhomepages is sufficiently long.

Reference is now made to FIG. 8, which is a flow chart illustratingoperation of a downloader forming part of the system of FIG. 6. As seenin FIG. 8, each downloader maintains a download queue for the homepagewhich the downloader is, currently downloading. The download queueincludes a list of URLs of objects in the homepage as well as thehomepage object that require downloading in order to provide a localcopy of the homepage.

For each URL in the download queue, an inquiry is made whether a localcopy of the object corresponding thereto already exists. If so, a linkto that local copy is created. If not, an attempt is made to downloadthe object. If upon attempting to download the object, the downloader isinformed that the object is located on another URL. i.e. by the receiptof redirection reply, that URL is placed in the download queue.

If, the download is successful, the downloaded object is stored indatabase 610 (FIG. 6) as a local copy. If the downloaded object is anHTML page, then the HTML page is processed, preferably by an algorithmof the type described hereinbelow in FIG. 9.

When the download queue is empty, a connection is established withthumbnail generator 612 (FIG. 6) via broker 614 (FIG. 6). The URL of thelocal copy of the homepage object is sent to the thumbnail generator 612and a thumbnail image of the homepage is generated hereby. Thisthumbnail image is stored in image database 604 (FIG. 6).

Reference is now made to FIG. 9, which is a flow chart illustratingoperation of a process HTML algorithm employed in the downloader of FIG.8. The HTML object which is downloaded is scanned, the executablecontent thereof is eliminated and embedded objects therein arerecognized.

For each embedded object a decision is made whether to download it. Thisdecision is made based on the nature of the embedded object and thenature of the reference thereto. Generally, images and HTML objects aredownloaded.

URLs of objects to be downloaded are placed in the download queuereferred to hereinabove in connection with FIG. 8 and the HTML object ismodified to refer to the local copies of the objects to be downloaded.References to objects not to be downloaded are eliminated from the HTMLobject.

Reference is now made to FIG. 10, which is a flow chart illustratingoperation of a thumbnail generator, such as thumbnail generator 612,forming part of the system of FIG. 6. Initially, the thumbnail generatorinitializes a web browser functionality 616 (FIG. 6). When a connectionis established to the thumbnail generator 612 from a downloader 606(FIG. 6) via a broker 614 (FIG. 6), the thumbnail generator 612 receivesthe URL of the local copy of the homepage.

The web browser navigates to that URL and renders the homepage. Asnapshot of the homepage is taken, typically in bitmap form. Thissnapshot is resized to a desired thumbnail size and is then transmittedvia the downloader 606 for storage in image database 604.

Reference is now made to FIG. 11, which is a flow chart illustratingoperation of a broker, such as broker 614, forming part of the system ofFIG. 6. The broker receives connection requests from both thumbnailgenerators 612 (FIG. 6) and downloaders 606 (FIG. 6). When simultaneousrequests are pending from both a thumbnail generator and a downloader,the broker establishes a direct connection therebetween. When thereexists a surplus of connection requests from either thumbnail generators612 or downloaders 606, queues of such connection requests may bemaintained by the broker.

A preferred method for constructing A Framework For Providing VisualContext To WWW Hyperlinks in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention includes the following steps:

-   1. Generate Binary file GIRAFA.hex from the computer listing of    Appendix A.-   2. Decode GIRAFA.hex using a MIME compliant decoder, creating    Girafa-1-45.exe.

The method for starting the visualization functionality of FIG. 1 withthe program in Appendix A includes the following steps:

-   1. Provide a computer terminal such as an Intel-based Pentium III    800 MHz computer, configured with Microsoft Windows 98 operating    system, and Internet Explorer 5.5 Web Browser.-   2. Load the file Girafa-1-45.exe to a temporary directory in the    computer terminal provided in step 1. Execute the file    Girafa-1-45.exe, and follow the installation instructions. When    asked to register, press ‘cancel’.-   3. Edit the file Girafa.ini in the installation directory, replacing    every occurrence of the string ‘aranha.girafa.com’ with the hostname    of the image server, and every occurrence of the number 8080 with    the number 80.-   4. Start the Internet Explorer browser.-   5. In the Internet Explorer Window select the View Menu, in it    select the Explorer Bars sub-menu, and in it choose GirafaBar.-   6. Follow the registration procedure.

A further preferred method for constructing A Framework For ProvidingVisual Context To WWW Hyperlinks in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

-   1. Generate Binary file ARANHA.hex from the computer listing of    Appendix B.-   2. Decode ARANHA.hex using a MIME compliant decoder, creating    aranha.tgz.

The method for providing the functionality of FIG. 6 with the program inAppendix B includes the following steps:

-   1. Provide a computer server such as a Dell PowerEdge 2450, with at    least 1 GB of main memory, configured with OpenBSD 2.7 operating    system and MySQL 3.23.25 database, and connected to the Internet.-   2. Create the directory /var/www/httpd/collect.-   3. Create the directory /data1.-   4. In /data1 extract the file aranha.tgz by using the command ‘tar    xvfz aranha.tgz’, creating /data1/aranha/aranha.conf,    /data1/aranha/capture.zip, /data1/aranha/db.def,    /data1/aranha/mod_asis.so, /data1/aranha/bin/data    1/aranha/bin/broker, /data1/aranha/bin/controller, /data    1/aranha/bin/downloader, /data1/aranha/bin/downloader.real, and a    skeleton image directory /data1/aranha/images.-   5. Edit the file /data1/aranha/aranha.conf, replacing the string    <SERVER_IP_ADRESS> with the server's IP address, the string <DBUSER>    with a MySQL username that have full access to database named DATA,    and the string <DBPASSWORD> with the password of that user.-   6. Create the MySQL database, and initialize it by running the MySQL    script /data1/aranha/db.def.-   7. Set the environment variable ARANHA_CONF to    /data1/aranha/aranha.conf.-   8. Execute, in the background, the program /data1/aranha/bin/broker.-   9. Install the apache module mod_asis.so by changing directory to    /data1/aranha, and executing the command ‘apxs -a -i mod_asis.so’.-   10. Set the handle_asis as the Apache web server handler for files    with suffix ‘.y’.-   11. Start the Apache web server.-   12. Provide a computer server such as a Dell PowerEdge 2450, with a    display adapter capable of displaying a resolution of 1600×280×32,    such as an ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 128 32 MB PCI, and an ethernet adapter    such as a Netgear FA310TX, configured with Windows NT Workstation    4.0 SP4, connected via Ethernet to the computer server provided in    step 1.-   13. Transfer the file data1/aranha/capture.zip to the computer    server provided in step 12.-   14. Extract capture.zip using a WinZip 7.0 compliant decoder, to the    directory c:\appl.creating c:\appl\_ISource.dll,    c:\appl\CaptureWeb.exe, c:\appl\CaptureWeb.ini, c:\appl\Mfc42d.dll,    c:\appl\Mfcn42d.dll, c:\appl\Mfco42d.dll, c:\appl\Msvcrtd.dll,    c:\appl\runCaptureWeb.exe.-   15. Edit the File c:\appl\CaptureWeb.ini replacing the string    <SERVER_IP_IP_ADDRESS> with the IP address of the OpenBSD server as    provided by Step 1.-   16. Execute the application c:\appl\runCaptureWeb.exe.-   17. Create a list of hostnames the thumbnail of their home pages is    to be created, and store in the file /tmp/list.-   18. Execute the application /data1/aranha/bin/controller to download    the thumbnail images of hosts listed in /tmp/list by running the    command ‘/data1/aranha/bin/controller/tmp/list’.

Another preferred method for constructing A Framework For ProvidingVisual Context To WWW Hyperlinks in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

-   1. Generate Binary file IMAGE.hex from the computer listing of    Appendix C.-   2. Decode IMAGE.hex using a MIME compliant decoder, creating    image_server.tgz.

The method for providing providing the functionality of an image serverof FIGS. 1 and 2 includes the following steps:

-   1. Provide a computer server such as a Dell PowerEdge 2450, with at    least 1 GB of main memory, configured with OpenBSD 2.7 operating    system, MySQL 3.23.25 database, and an image database created by the    software provided in Appendix B, and Connected to the Internet.-   2. Extract the binary file of Appendix C using the command ‘tar xvfz    image_server.tgz’, creating the directories image_server and    image_server/errs, and the files image_server/aranha.conf,    image_server/mod_girafa.so, image_server/errs/empty, and    image_servers/errs/notFL.gif-   3. Change directory to image_server-   4. Install the apache module mod_girafa.so by executing the command    ‘apxs -a -i mod_girafa.so’-   5. copy the file aranha.conf to /data1/aranha/aranha.conf-   6. Create the directory /var/www/htdocs/errs-   7. Copy the files errs/empty and errs/notFL.gif to    /var/www/htdocs/errs-   8. Start the apache web server.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the presentinvention is not limited by what has been particularly shown anddescribed hereinabove. Rather the scope or the present inventionincludes both combinations and subcombinations of the various featuresdescribed hereinabove as well as variations and modifications whichwould occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the specificationand which are not in the prior art.

1. An Internet information system comprising: a web server; and an imageserver separate from said web server, wherein said image server employsan image storage for storing images of web pages, wherein at least oneimage of a web site is generated and stored in said image storage inadvance of said image server receiving any request for an image of saidweb site, said web server serving code defining a first web pageincluding a hyperlink to a second web page, said code including commandsoperable to retrieve an image of a third web page from said imageserver, said image of a third web page corresponding to said hyperlinkto a second web page.
 2. A system according to claim 1 and wherein saidthird web page is the same as said second web page.
 3. A systemaccording to claim 1 and wherein said third web page is different fromsaid second web page.
 4. A system according to claim 3 and wherein a URLof said third web page is a portion of a URL of said second web page. 5.A system according to claim 4 and wherein said URL of said third webpage is a top level URL of a host of said second web page.
 6. A systemaccording to claim 3 and wherein said third web page is a home page forsaid second web page.
 7. A system according to claim 1 and wherein saidimage of a third web page is a snapshot of said third web page.
 8. Asystem according to claim 1 and wherein said image of a third web pageis in a bitmap form.
 9. A system according to claim 1 and wherein saidimage of a third web page is resized to be smaller than said third webpage.
 10. A system according to claim 1 and wherein said image servercomprises a first database containing images of web pages.
 11. A systemaccording to claim 10 and wherein said image server further comprises asecond database containing URLs of web pages the images of which arecontained in said first database.
 12. A system according to claim 10 andwherein said first database stores said images of web pages in adirectory structure on a file system.
 13. A system according to claim 11and wherein said second database is a relational database.
 14. A systemaccording to claim 1 and further comprising a plurality of downloaders.15. A system according to claim 14 and wherein said plurality ofdownloaders includes at least three downloaders.
 16. A system accordingto claim 1 and further comprising at least one computer that downloadsweb pages and renders them to a predetermined size.
 17. A systemaccording to claim 16 and wherein said predetermined size is smallerthan the original size of said web pages.
 18. A system according toclaim 1 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to displaysaid image of a third web page within said first web page.
 19. A systemaccording to claim 1 and wherein said code also includes commandsoperable to display said image of a third web page alongside said firstweb page.
 20. A system according to claim 1 and wherein said code alsoincludes commands operable to display said image of a third web pagealongside said hyperlink to a second web page.
 21. A system according toclaim 1 and wherein said code also includes commands operable to displaysaid image of a third web page above said hyperlink to a second webpage.
 22. A system according to claim 1 and wherein said code alsoincludes commands operable to receive user selection of said hyperlinkto a second web page.